@iasminb Hi there, please click the "Time Estimated" icon at the bottom , and click Done when finished. You may estimate up to 8 hours for each task, and please break down your task if your estimation exceeds the maximum. Please click the link below to learn more: http://faq.doit.im/iphone_7.html#149

In my opinion, the amount of time estimated for a task should be done before you select what tasks you are going to do that day. I see two main reasons for this:

#1 - It's backwards to me to select the tasks you are going to do for the day and then estimate their time. In GTD you select tasks by how much time you have available to complete them. This makes the act of selecting tasks cumbersome and more complicated than it should be if the time was estimated before Today's tasks are selected.

#2 - For most people I would venture to guess that their "Today" tasks are not static (set-in-stone) and will tend to change as the day goes on. Because priorities will change, you will end up doing tasks Today that you didn't initially plan on doing today. It would help if you had a time estimate ready on tasks that will get pulled into Today as the day goes on.

So I would suggest that time estimated be an option when you edit a task, just like adding tags, contexts, etc. The extra screen for time estimation for the day is just unnecessary if you ask me and the way it is setup now is not the most efficient or GTD-friendly.

@dpward Sorry the estimated time can not be shown in the Today List now.

Personally, not only now but also in the past when using apps that support estimated time, I have found that I do not have much use for it. It is difficult to assess, too unreliable, not worth the effort.

But I do agree totally with @colinmarshall that if estimated time is a supported parameter, it should be available from the very start, not only in the "day planning" mode. It is something you should be able to enter when you create the task, and use as a selection criteria, just as Colin says. You selected tasks from you next actions list depending on a number of factors, including time available now vs time estimated for the tasks.

As Colin also says, very importantly, the Today list is not set in stone. It can change a lot during the day. Therefore, the whole approach of having Today as a separate classification for tasks is fundamentally flawed. A next action is a next action, and will remain to be a next action even if you flag it for your attention today. It should be visible on both lists (both Next and Today). Similarly, it should be possible to be able to flag other actions for Today, for example Waiting For actions that you expect to be delivered to you today and which you must follow up on if they are not delivered - these should be visible both on the Today list and Waiting For list.

@colinmarshall Hi there, on the iPhone/Android version, you can set the estimated time in the editing page.

@Folke Hi Folke, you can click the task to set the estimated time on the Web version. On iPhone/Android version, you can set the estimated time on the task editing page. Having tasks on both the Today list and next action/Waiting For list is not in our development plan now. We will look into this feature and see if it is worth developing in the future.

Linjiani, I know it is not in your plan. I just could not help mentioning it again anyway, since we were discussing the highly volatile nature of the Today list, at least for those who follow GTD. But maybe the current functionality is good for those who prefer to see it as a final decison that this task really must be done today

Perhaps you could consider a totally different approach? You already have Tags in Doit. The "star" that I and many others are asking for is really very simple. It works just like a "Tag", but is easy to toggle with a single click, and has a very clear special icon that is clarly visible on all lists. And then you have a special "starred" list which just shows all these "tagged" tasks regardless of which list they actually live on. Examples of apps that handle it in this way are Gmail, GDrive, Nirvana, Zendone, Omnifocus, GTDNext, Things and many many other todo apps, GTD apps and other apps. It is a better and more established way of dealing with it. Since Doit already has options under Settings to enable/disable certain lists, it would be easy enough to have such options for showing this "flagged for Today" list (which is based solely on the "star tag") vs showing the currently existing "scheduled for Today" list (which is based on the "start date"). (And you could offer the default option to auto-star tasks on their start date, which is the common practice in other apps). It is quite similar to the existing functionality except that:
- you can star any kind of task from any of your lists (Next, Waiting, Someday, Scheduled, Inbox ...)
- each list is kept intact and correct even if you star things on it (this is very important)

@Folke We had the "star" icon before. But it was used to move tasks into "Today". Now please assign a priority for the tasks. As for your advice to add the "Star" icon, we will consider seriously.

I know exactly what you had before. This is not what I am asking for, not even if you were to reintroduce the star icon for MOVING tasks into Today, as you used to.

What I and many others are asking for is the "normal" kind of "star flag" that most other apps have and which allows you to:

1) star any kind of task from any of your lists (Next, Waiting, Someday, Scheduled, Inbox ...)
2) keep each list INTACT and correct even if you star things on it (this is very, very important)

In other words, this kind of "normal" star does NOT move tasks to some other list; it just makes the starred tasks easy to see in whatever list they are on (Next, Waiting etc). In addition they are all visible together on a special "Starred" list. Please compare with Gmail or GDrive or Nirvana or any other app I mentioned. Their "star" (called "flag" in Omnifocus or "Focus" in GTDNext) does NOT move or change the item in any way.

Thanks, I do use the priorities all the time :-)
They are very good and useful, discreet yet very clear, and serve a very good purpose. This feature actually is one of the main reasons I still use Doit. It is not too common in other apps, unfortunately. (I only wish that in Settings I could set up Priority Medium - blue - as the automatic default for new tasks, but this is not a big problem.)

For me there is a big difference between a Priority and a Star. For my purposes, the Priority is a quite stable ("objective") measure of how important and urgent it is that I consider choosing this task. The Star is a just a volatile indicator of whether I tentatively aim to do something about it right now (today). I often "star" things for today, even if they are not super important or urgent, but if my expected contexts provide a good opportunity to get them done. And if that opportunity disappears I just "unstar" it. Example: If I have an appointment in the western suburbs I might also star a bunch of errands in that area, even if they are not important or urgent.

@Folke We will take this feature into account. Thanks for your advice.

@Linjiani you said:
"Having tasks on both the Today list and next action/Waiting For list is not in our development plan now."

However, on 10/17/2015 you said this:
"'An item marked as for Today or for Tomorrow shouldn't be removed from the "Next" list. ' －This feature has already been added" (http://help.doit.im/topics/6471#comment-17)

I am confused, I thought you said this feature was already added to the new version? Why are you now saying it's not in your development plan?

@colinmarshall Sorry for that. We have recorded down this feature. We will consider this feature in the future.